One Direction “You And I” Isolated Vocals

I usually post isolated tracks on Fridays and for the most part, the majority of them are classic songs that are somewhat old. The reason for that is that those tracks are more available, but every now and then I find something that’s current, like today’s One Direction isolated vocal track of their hit “You And I,” which was co-written and produced by Julian Bunetta and John Ryan. Here’s what to listen for.

1. Unlike most songs today that are somewhat dry, the vocals on “You And I” are deeply effected. There’s a basic long, very lush, delayed reverb that’s augmented by a 1/2 note and sometimes 1/4 note delay that trails its repeats to the left.

2. There’s a lot of compression on these vocals and sometimes it really stands out. That said, you’d never hear it in the track, and that’s what counts in the end.

3. Listen to the beginning of the choruses at 1:07 and 1:54 on the left (especially at 1:54 and a little beyond). There’s some throat clearing that was left in. This was something you heard a lot back in the old tape days, but hardly much any more in the world of DAWs. There’s also a lot of lip noise during the second verse at 2:32 on beyond. I’m surprised this wasn’t cleaned up. Likewise, there are some glitches around 4:46 and again around 6:30. Can’t tell if these are just digital artifacts from the upload or if on the recording. There’s even a bit of noise from the studio talkback left in.

4. There are some very abrupt cut-offs on some of these vocal tracks, which makes me think that the editing wasn’t as good as it could have been. Usually you put a slight fade at the end of an edit to eliminate that.

5. At 6 minutes and 54 seconds, this is a really long song in a time where shortness prevails. However, like other big hitmakers of the past, One Direction can break the current rules and even establish some new trends thanks to its huge fan base.